The Reverse Code
by Kagetaka
Summary: In the days before the Lyoko gang, there was the treasure, Franz Hopper, a prisoner of XANA, and Aelita, a 'princess' without her memories. In those days, there was also the dragon...
1. The Dragon and the Treasure

**The Reverse Code **

_Birthright_

**Prologue**

**The Dragon and the Treasure**

I remember the man named Franz Hopper. I kept him company once when I was told to, and he appeared to be a fairly decent and accommodating human. Intelligent as well. That was something I knew to respect. But for me, he was more than just a simple, intelligent, captive. After all, he was my creator's creator. A god of gods, of sorts, if you will.

I knew not to underestimate him. He had powers and influences in this world as well. It would never be as great as the amount he foolishly allotted to my creator, but it was there. It was waiting. Creator knew this. So Creator finally decided to create something more sentiment and capable than his other creations.

At first, I had no name. Everything was blue and bright, so bright. I could feel Creator watching- but at that time, I didn't understand. Creator surrounded me- and I could hear.

"PROGRAM: DRACO, INITIATED SUCCESSFULLY."

Draco. Instinctively, something within me reached out, and suddenly information ran through my program. Draco. Latin for dragon. But why?

Creator continued dispassionately without heeding my obvious confusion, "ASSIGNMENT DESIGNATED. GUARD FRANZ HOPPER." With that, Creator disappeared from the area.

The first thing I did was to look around and acknowledge my surroundings. I lay prostrate on the ground, staring up at the infinite sky of data. I saw the walls I was constricted to. And I saw the man. He, was Franz Hopper.

For the first months of my programming, I watched this man. He never really said anything. Most of the time, he simply sat there and watched me in turn. We sat for hours, days even, and the eyes of X.A.N.A- my eyes, watching his bespectacled ones.

"Draco." He said one day, out of the blue. Our eyes didn't break off.

I was on guard immediately. This man was not a simple human; he had already gone beyond what human's were capable of processing- the reason why he had fled to Lyoko to escape from the black suited men. "Doctor." I replied evenly in hollow, clipped tones.

"What is your assignment? Your purpose?" He asked me. The man definitely knew how to speak to computers. After all, he had designed Creator.

It was something every program instinctively obeyed. So I spoke once more. "Program Draco. Assignment: Guard Franz Hopper."

The doctor was analyzing this carefully. I could tell it did not take him much longer to determine the loophole in the order. "If you were to take me out of this cage, but still remain by my side, you'd still be guarding me."

I knew the doctor wanted to escape. He could do Lyoko and he could do his daughter much more good if he were out of Sector Five and back in mainland Lyoko to try and return the situation under his control. Creator was right to watch out for this man. I shook my head at first. I explained my reasons. "Program Draco guards Franz Hopper to prevent escape from Sector Five. Freeing captive from containment: escape imminent."

He was quick to return his reply. "Program Draco, your assignment is to guard me, and to guard me only. There was nothing specifying escape. X.A.N.A is not around to give you your commands at the moment. A program must act on its user's commands, as long as the commands do not violate the assignment. So I am commanding you, Program Draco, remove me from this containment, and guard me, from X.A.N.A. and from the monsters out there."

I hesitated, my mind working at full power to process his commands. Nothing violated my assignment. "Very clever, Doctor." I intoned softly, tipping my head. "Very well: Interpretation of assignment accepted. Please follow." With that, I snapped my fingers and the walls flew apart. Franz Hopper was already on his feet behind me.

"Guard me until I find Aelita." He murmured softly, as we started heading towards the elevator along the sides of the sphere of Sector Five.

"Negative. Assignment: Guard Franz Hopper. Issued commands violate assignment." I heard him sigh in frustration. "Loophole, doctor?" I asked curiously. I could tell he was thinking again.

"Draco, you can't enter the towers. You were spawned from X.A.N.A. All of X.A.N.A's creations can't penetrate the walls of the tower.

"Bring Aelita out." I suggested. He blanched.

"That won't work either, she's only safe in those towers. If I brought her out, the monsters would come."

"Program Draco guards Franz Hopper. Franz Hopper guards Aelita."

"Yes, good idea…" Hopper looked at me suddenly, his eyes wide. "Draco, are you helping me?"

I titled my head again curiously. "What do you mean, doctor? Creator only said 'Guard' Franz Hopper. I have no other assignments or commands."

"Free thought spawned from isolation…" I heard him mutter behind my back. He was still gazing at me with those strange eyes. "Rogue programming?" He asked with a hopeful tone.

"Lack of commands, doctor." I stated. Why was he looking at me so? "Doctor, we are almost to the elevator."

He snapped out of it almost immediately. "Oh, yes! All right. When we get to the next level, I need to leave through the transporter, understand? I've no doubt X.A.N.A will set his monsters out on the higher levels, so I need you to be there. Do you have weapons?"

Electricity crackled in my hands in reply. With a burst of crackling noises, a spear erupted into existence in my palm. One end was tipped with a pale blue- almost white crystal. The other end was composed of X.A.N.A's eye, with the three prongs at the end curving into dangerous points. The electric charge cumulated between the three prongs.

"Good enough, doctor?"

"Yes, yes, very good, Draco." He replied, looking over his shoulder. We were not being chased yet, but it was only a matter of time.

There was a buzzing in my mind, but I paid it no heed. A purpose had been given. It had been- forever since I had received a purpose that I could actively act on. "We have arrived, doctor. Please approach the elevator." The doctor did so without any complaint. I followed behind quietly. Automatically, the floor flew up from beneath us. Hopper lurched instinctively. I remained stoic and still.

"The side panels of the elevator are here for your services, doctor." I intoned, rather sarcastically, now that I thought about it.

The doctor shot me a grim, but surprised look again. Nevertheless, he hobbled over to the side as best as he could even with the elevator moving. "Just a little further along…" he muttered. He looked as if he could not wait to flee from the contraption.

Just as it started, it stopped, the elevator clacking to a complete halt. The doctor flew up into the air due to the sudden stop. I quickly steadied him and guided his uneven legs down the hall. We met with several Creepers along the way, all staring at me questioningly with the canons installed in the gaping holes they knew as mouths. But when they noticed the middle-aged man leaning on me, they all simultaneously reared up and began firing. Swinging around to ensure that the doctor was safe behind me, I deflected each laser effortlessly. Several of the red shots of energy were absorbed, others reflected towards the Creepers.

I heard Franz Hopper gasp beside me as he gripped my shoulder uncomfortably. Brains or no, the man was still just a simple civilian and a scientist. And distracting the guard, was a heavy no-no in my book. "Draco! What are those?" He was pointing behind us.

I spared him a good look and froze. Data rushed into my processors, and I realized that if the Scyphozoas were here, X.A.N.A. was most likely aware of what was happening now. At least five of the bulbous jellyfish like monsters were hovering serenely, blocking the path back to the elevator, effectively cutting off any retreat routes. The buzzing in my head was starting to pulsate, and I instantly realized what was happening. I had to get Franz Hopper out, and fast.

The tip of my spear caught a nearby Creeper through the chest, instantly causing it to explode and flicker away. Seizing Hopper's hand, I forcibly tugged him along, cutting through the middle of the room. Instantly, I noticed the other Creepers, some higher than others, aiming their mouths at us. At least fifteen or so lasers came hurtling our way. Quickly, I manuevered the doctor through the storm of attacks. I hissed when one of the searing hot beams struck my shoulder, but I quickly brushed off the numb sensation that spread throughout my physical body. My eyes widened in horror when I looked back up and realized that X.A.N.A was enforcing his will into the walls of Sector Five, causing our last exit to close up before my eyes. With a shout, I hurled my spear with all my might towards the door. It spun, flying at the perfect tragectory and getting caught straight up, right between the floor and the door.

"Doctor, you must flee." I stated, emotionlessly as usual. "The Scyphozoas are dangerous." I warned. "Incapable of physical harm- can result in permanent deletion, however. The transporter will be waiting.

"And you, Draco?" The man asked tersely. "Your assignment?"

I stared at him blankly through my X.A.N.A. patterned eyes and then closed them. "Guarding Franz Hopper is now impossible. Creator is attempting to regain Program Draco. Safety of Franz Hopper: Not guarenteed. Please proceed to the transporter, doctor." My clipped voice gave no room for argument, and subtly, I gestured to the door.

Hopper looked at me one last time rather wistfully. I was confused. "Doctor, basic functional scans indicate that you are concerned for my well being." I could feel creator slamming against my mental shields now. Any minute now… "For your safety, you should not remain here, Doctor, please proceed to the transporter."

"Draco…" He turned around and passed through the door. A moment later, creator had dematerialized my weapon and the door slammed shut, sealing me in.

Before the Scyphozoas could close in on my, I lashed out with every last ounce of strength I had, frying four of them in one go with blue sparks flying everywhere. Their wireframes collapsed around me and the flakes of data came peeling off rapidly. The last Scyphozoa seized hold of me, and instantly I felt a dull calmness settling in. It was wrong.

I felt Creator's howl of rage and anger ring through my head, and like glass, the mental blocks shattered and fell. Anger. Raw anger split my head and displeasure flooded through my system.

Creator was… incredibly angry… I thought bemusedly, as darkness fell on me. I knew no more.


	2. The Dragon and the Princess

**The Reverse Code**

_Birthright _

**Data Pad One**

**The Dragon and the Princess**

I had no idea how long I had slept. But one day I found my eyes open once more, recognizing the familiar sight of the digital sky. Creator was not present. I mentally berated myself. Of course Creator was not present. One quick look at my surroundings told me I had been cast off at the ice sector. Internal data readings told me normal humans would perish under harsh artic condition. But then again, I was merely a program, and this was merely a remake of the true world. So I had nothing to fear.

I sat up and stumbled to my feet, trying to gain my bearings. There were no monsters in sight. What was I doing here then? I thought back to what the last assignment I had been given was. To my surprise and horror, nothing came up. Why… did I not have a purpose?

"Creator." I muttered, looking around for any sign of the one who formatted and installed me. "Creator, what is my assignment?"

Nothing answered my call. The world was incredibly silent. Lyoko was devoid of the sound of splashing or lapping water. No wind blew. Not even the Hornets were around to make noise. There was one aspect of the water that mimicked the true world though. I watched my distorted face and body flicker and waver on the surface of the digital sea. Sandy brown hair. A tight-fitting body suit with a collar, that went all the way down my arms and encompassed my fingers. It layered off at mid-thigh. My legs were covered in tight, white material, and my feet- were claws of a dragon. If I looked carefully, I could see that my fingers also tapered off into claws. Two metallic horns decorated the top of my head and a ridge of spikes was located along the middle of the back of my head. And my eyes- I leaned down to get a closer look.

X.A.N.A's eyes were gone. In their place were regular black eyes. What- what did this mean? It did not mean I was free from my Creator, or worse off, that my Creator had abandoned me. I could still feel the connection that effectively bound my existence to his. But I felt strange. Then- it came to me slowly.

I had no symbol of X.A.N.A anywhere on my person. I was… 'spotless'. And ideal for infiltrating towers. Raiding the castle of the princess. I wondered if she met-

Met…what was I wondering about? There was no one else on Lyoko for her to meet other than monsters, the Creator, and myself. I had been about to think something… else. Yet it eluded me. It could not have been Creator that I was thinking of. The princess would not have wanted to meet it. Monsters were out as well. Perhaps the person who was missing was me? No- I had no interest or anything to gain from meeting the princess.

There was also nothing to be gained from standing and pondering my actions or my assignment. Someone, anyone, anything! The gnawing sensation of being purposeless raged against my calm exterior. Programs did not have true emotions. They had reactors, perhaps, but everything was programmed and prepared. Yet the one thing a program could not be devoid of was purpose. Monsters could not command me; technically I was of greater rank than they were. Creator was not communicating with me.

That left the princess. I was certain she would not be averse to having company. After all, having the animosity of Creator and all the other beings on this strange world could not possibly have been healthy. The closest tower stood not too far away. It was directly down the following path, and I could see its majestic blue hue standing out against the dark digital sky. So I headed towards it, making my way to the great brown roots that its base was composed of. Softly, I reached out a hand and touched the leathery wall. My fingers pulsed against it, and then fell through with a soft ripple. The rest of me followed suit.

The inside of the tower was brightly lit with data and encoding scattered all over the 'walls'. The platform in the center was a giant eye. Slowly and deliberately, I approached the center of the eye and felt the tower take hold of me and gently propel me to the second layer of the tower.

In truth, the towers were all connected. Layer after layer after layer. Each tower was composed of two levels. Exceeding or plunging below the limit resulted in instant transportation into another tower.

I landed gently on the edge of the second platform, walking casually to the center once more. Automatically, the tower offered up an empty blue screen, demanding that I identify myself. Here, I hesitated. What if the tower recognized me as one of X.A.N.A's? Would it turn against me? Yet there was no going ahead if I did not comply. So I let my hand rest across the screen, and then let it slide off. The handprint remained, flickering on the screen for several seconds, before the screen was wiped clean again.

"Program Draco." It acknowledged in bright blue words. So I truly was mostly clean of Creator's influence. If anything had registered, the words would have appeared in bright red.

I could sense the tower relaxing. The system behind the tower then revealed itself to me on the plan blue screen in various boxes of data. Being a program myself, I could read each of them flawlessly. Recent records told me that the princess had last accessed the tower's records herself only seconds before me. The signal was originating from the ice sector as well, in a tower further south from where I was. My fingers touched the screen again and I configured it to 'change' the tower's order to ensure that plunging to the next level would bring me to the proper tower. It gracefully allowed my action to reprogram it.

My job done, I stood again. The tower, sensing my departure, automatically sealed off the screen, and it minimized from sight. I crossed to the edge of the tower, and dropped forwards. No hesitation. Programs did not fear death.

I fell and I fell. Streams of data rushed by me, but nothing could be felt. Sometimes I would cross the path of a 'box' of data, and its info would download into my mind. One gave me the insight into the rest of the sectors of Lyoko. I filed it away for later investigation and suddenly felt a lurching sensation in my abdomen, indicating that I had 'rightened' myself again and was now heading upwards instead of plunging down. The platform approached me rapidly.

With a nimble flip, I landed on the next tower's platform, much to the horror and surprise of a pink haired elf. She shrieked and instantly pulled away from the screen she had been manipulating. Even though I bore no sign of X.A.N.A, she still made to edge away from my foreign intrusion into her isolated life. "Who-Wha… who- who are you?" Panic crept into her voice.

I titled my head slightly in acknowledgement as stared into her stunned eyes. "Hello princess."

"Prin-cess…" She spoke haltingly, as if still not quite believing I was there. "No… that's not it. That's not who I am. Who are you?"

"Wrong. You are princess." I intoned blankly. Why did humans have to be so… ambiguous? "Program Program Draco" I answered, pointing at myself. "Designation and assignment: Unassigned. Current status: Inactive. Commands?"

"Commands? You don't… have any?" The girl asked, puzzled. As if she could not comprehend such a thing. "Wait- you want me to give you commands? Wait- I can't do that!" She looked genuinely horrified by the idea.

"Affirmative. Crea-" I bit my tongue. The tower was not deaf. It would know instantaneously who Creator was. "Affirmative." I began again. "Program Draco is secondary intelligent being on Lyoko. The first is X.A.N.A. Currently without purpose. Commands?" The name of Creator felt strange on my tongue.

"Second? But I'm here…" The princess began slowly. "Oh wait- I haven't been out of the towers much."

"Program Draco was activated…" Here I paused and began to run an internal scan and check my internal watch. "Two Earth years ago." My eyes widened. I had been offline for that long? I tried to scan my records again for any reasons why. My search came up empty. Trying a self-diagnostic next yielded no internal errors.

"I… don't quite remember. I've been here since forever. Well, as far as I can remember…" The princess answered uncertainly.

"Affirmative. However your skills have never truly come into effect until recently. Program Draco is not truly sentient, however."

"Well I'm not either…" Princess trailed off again. "Well, I just don't remember."

"Negative. Princess is sentient. Program Draco is not." I argued back. She gave me a strange look, but argued that point no further.

It started from there. We were two virtual girls trapped in a digital world devoid of life and love. She, pastless and I, purposeless. Either way you looked at it, we did not understand the reasons why we were placed on Lyoko. In that, we found companionship with each other. With my presence nearby, she steadily grew more confident, and we began to chart the world of Lyoko. From the ice sector, we returned to the place she said her first memory originated from, the forest sector.

We wandered down the thin roads, encompassed by trees that had no ending in sight. Occasionally she would point out a familiar sight and run towards it, in hopes of jarring her memory processors. We were always met with disappointment.

On the other hand, I was better. The princess was uncertain about having a program to run about and to command, but she nevertheless started to shakily pick up the reins.

"Draco, I- I want to go visit the mountain sector today." She shuffled her feet slightly. "I've never been there before. The hornets are always there. Could you… protect me?"

I nodded, and my spear appeared in my hands. She jumped back with a slight yelp. Even after all this time watching me practice, my strange-looking spear still frightened her greatly. Especially the eye of X.A.N.A. She had once asked me why my weapon was designed in that appearance, but I had no answer for her. "Program Draco shall escort Princess to mountain sector. Please follow." And she fell into step behind me.

Something was deceptively familiar about the situation, but I brushed it off as coincidence. The was nothing really recognizable about what was going on. We strutted across the forest sector like we owned the world. Technically we did. Most of the time, Creator left us alone, dismissing us as harmless. The monsters would take random shots at us, but without the Creator online, they would never muster up anything more than several farewell parting shots. We often avoided them effortlessly. Our trips went smoothly, most of the time.

However, as we journeyed into more unknown and dangerous realms like the mountain sector, we would constantly keep our guards up. Princess truly was not built a fighter. Her only ability allowed her to manipulate the terrain around her- something I had been about to praise as a undefeatable ability if she applied creativity to it- only to discover that her abilities deducted life points when used too often.

It was pitiful to realize that she was truly helpless in the strange and different world. I was always out to watch for her openings though. And slowly and steadily, I taught her some ways of defending herself from the data I was able to access through the supercomputer, and through the Internet.

Our originally simple plan was to cross the forest sector to the closest tower and there, I would reconfigure the tower to take us directly to the mountains. Then, we felt our plans crushed into ruins.

The earth shook, rumbling and pounding beneath our feet. Princess shrieked and lost her balance, falling backwards towards the digital sea. My reaction did not come fast enough, and my outstretched hand only grazed her fingertips before she plunged away, farther and farther away from me. It was then I discovered my secondary talent.

Streams of black fog shot out from my desperately outstretched hand. It was unlike any fog or steam I'd ever witnessed before, it was almost as if this fog had a life of its own. It morphed and writhed until it had formed a gigantic claw that reached out and caught Princess by the waist, dangling a mere inches from the digital sea. A bit of pink hair that was touching the virtualized water disintegrated in a swirl of data. Princess looked terrified.

I had always harbored wariness about the digital sea. Whenever I neared it, every sensor in my body would give off huge streams of warning to my database. Frankly, it was alarming. Thus when Princess had once suggested that we go for a swim, I had fully disagreed and given her a vague warning on the sea. She knew no better, and since I had supposedly been around for longer than she had, she abided by my verdict.

Now it was all confirmed. The sea was dangerous. Gingerly, I retracted my hand, and the fog came up with it. Slowly, I brought Princess back on land, and then unclenched my hand nervously.

"A… are you alright?" I asked. And then again, was _I_ all right?

I never stuttered. Not even when I had been trapped with Creep… My thoughts trailed off again. What had I been thinking? I'd never been trapped with Creepers before. Puzzled and frustrated, I glared at the hand, which had just saved the Princess. What other pieces of my memories eluded me? How did all of this… my missing memories… the missing eye of my Creator from my own eyes… the claw fog… add up?

Princess had collapsed, shaking dreadfully on the still pulsating ground. Now I could see it clearly. Shockwaves, so powerful that they were visible, ran up and down the length of the thin road we were on. "What… what is going on?" She stammered, refusing to stand again. "Is-Isn't the tower that way also?"

I nodded. Despite Princess' close call, I could not let anything override my calm temperament. "Shall we investigate?"

Before Princess could answer, a shot rang out, cutting her reply off. The laser had missed Princess by inches, striking me in the torso instead. Grunting in pain, I looked up, and saw a troupe of Hornets swarming towards us at an alarming speed. "Run." I commanded.

She seemed bewildered at the order and shook her head. The ground was still vibrating and rolling beneath our feet, but I reached out and once again, the sensation of power welling through my hands released the claw of fog, and snatched her up in its tight embrace. Then I fled, moving the best I could with the trembling pulsations threatening to knock me down and feed me to the Hornets.

Something was definitely off. This was not the behavior of the usual Hornets. Somehow, they felt more… organized… this time around. They were not breaking formation, and each shot they took at us was precisely timed and strategically placed to deter us from certain side paths. Frustrated, I aimed the butt of my spear at one of the Hornets and fired off several electric fields. Then the Hornets did something I had never seen them do. They dodged. All four Hornets weaved away from the ball of crackling white energy and returned to the same v-formation they originally had been in. Amazed, I momentarily forgot about the threat they posed, and experimented once more, firing shot after shot after them. Again and again, they merely weaved in and out of each attack and resumed their positions, firing their own shots in return.

"We're almost there!" Princess shouted, breaking my interest in the sudden intelligence boost the Hornets had received. "The tower's over there… but it looks strange!"

I looked as well and felt myself involuntarily intake a harsh breath of air. The tower, instead of its normal, calming blue aura, was flaring a bright crimson color. In addition to the tower's new threatening guise, it was also surrounded by several Krabes. It suddenly occurred to both of us that the Hornets were merely driving us towards the tower and right into the pincers of the Krabes instead.

"Princess… I'm letting you down here." I stated, doing just as said. Uncovered from the black fog, she realized our predicament quickly. "For now, please create a wall separating us from the Krabes. Program Draco will delete the Hornets."

Shakily, Princess knelt and clasped her hands together, and her soothing melody filled the air. I could see the beginnings of a wall being set up on the path, so I trusted her to complete the task. Meanwhile, I dashed forth and took aim, this time, with the claw. It streamed from my hand, whipping around and slapping solidly into two of the Hornets, sending one careening into the digital sea. The other one rightened itself again and aimed once more. I took another hit to the shoulder while covering for Princess, but I tried again, this time, adding a little innovation to my technique. Once more, I extended the claw, then when it was almost completely done growing, I plunged my spear's end into the cloud and fired bolt after bolt of electricity into the cloud. The effects were instantaneous as lightning bolts were flung out from the tips of the 'claw's, slamming into another two Hornets, who, despite their newfound dodging skills, could not avoid the jagged arcs of lightning. The last Hornet hesitated, and I blasted it with a simple energy field when it was distracted.

"Duck, Princess." I intoned, and she immediately fell to the ground. Still grasping the electrically charged fog claw, I rammed it repeatedly into the wall she had created, and tore right through the Krabes that had been cautiously firing and clawing at it.

Their discarded legs and pincers lay scattered all over the scarred path, and Princess looked awestruck at my display of power. But without questioning my talents, she stumbled to her feet and started to run towards the tower, closely followed by me. Simultaneously, we slipped through the membrane of the corrupted tower, one after the other. The inside was no different from an ordinary tower, but both of us felt the oppressive atmosphere of something seriously wrong. Princess moved quickly, running straight to the center of the eye and levitating to the second floor. When I landed as well, the blue screen had already appeared.

"Suggestion: Run a diagnostic." I suggested helpfully, as she placed her hand on the blue screen.

Then, for the first time, instead of automatically allowing her to access the tower's database and information, the handprint flickered and the words "Aelita" typed themselves onto the screen. They were quickly erased and replaced with the words "Code." Lastly, the words "Lyoko" spelled themselves onto the screen.

Suddenly, the world was falling all around us. Data was streaming rapidly, and we could feel the tower humming as it rebooted itself entirely. It was as if it were raining data. Pads after pads of data were collapsing and vanishing, and in a sudden rush of brightness, light surged all around us.

She was still staring at the screen, as if amazed at what she had done. The oppressive nature of Creator was gone from the tower, purged entirely. "Princess?" I asked slowly.

Princess lifted her head and smiled at me, shaking her head. "No, not Princess." She grinned, like someone who had finally understood a great problem. "Aelita, Draco. My name is Aelita!" Her laugh rang softly around the hollow tower as she shook in jubilation and happiness. "Aelita, Aelita, Aelita!"

I smiled hesitatingly. It was not in a program's nature to feel, and yet… something welled up inside of me, like thousands of bubbles popping and ticking my insides. I let the strange expression on my face grow, and before I realized it, I could feel my face stretching into… a… grin? Yes, that was the proper way to put the new expression I had earned. A grin. "Ael...ita." I repeated the word, relishing it as it rolled over my tongue smoothly.

Aelita looked at me with a contemplative look on her face. "You should have a name too, Draco. Do you want to try?" She pointed at the blue screen.

"Program Draco already has a name." I pointed out matter-of-factly. "Draco. That aside, I believe it will only register if you are the one to enter your identity into the tower. It may be in your programming." I stated nonchalantly.

"Program Draco, or Draco, is not a name!" Aelita said, as if she were scolding a child. "That's a program designation and you know it! I think you should have a real name as well!" She turned back to the screen and started to type. "Let's see… world wide web… baby names…" I watched as she entered the search engine called 'Google' and started to look around.

"Wait. What is that?" I pointed at a recent news report that had only been posted 5 minutes ago.

Aelita stopped to read. "Military truck full of explosives out of control." She titled her head curiously. "What's so special thought? Humans are rather chaotic by nature."

Nevertheless, I reached past her shoulder and pressed the link, bringing us to the actual news page. Quickly, we both scanned the news, and my suspicions were confirmed. "A strange eye symbol on the computer screen inside of the truck… perhaps a new virus engineered by underground hackers and anti-government protestors…" Aelita read nervously. "Unidentified personnel described it as a circle with another circle surrounding it, with one prong at the top and three at the bottom." She looked back at me. "X.A.N.A's eye? But why would it surface in the real world?"

"Suggestion: The corrupted tower." I muttered, looking around. "Continue."

"The symbol suddenly just faded away and the driver was able to regain control… the military will continue investigation…" She read aloud again. "It just vanished like that." Aelita murmured. "Maybe it was because I purged the tower?"

"Most likely." I explained. "The power of the towers are not limited to Lyoko alone. If we can access the Internet- imagine what such a powerful program like X.A.N.A can possibly do with them."

"This isn't good." She said, hitting back on the screen. "Why is it interested in the real world?"

I paused to think on it. "It is possible…" I began slowly. "Computers and programs by nature are orderly calculators. To recognize chaos and incomprehensible data results in instant lock-down for the computer or program. Humans are ambiguous by nature. X.A.N.A's solution: destruction of the human race."

"Order?" Aelita made a face as if the notion itself were repulsive. "I agree that order is pleasant, but we cannot allow our order to destroy the order of others. For humans to function in acceptable parameters, they must have a degree of chaos in their functions. That is their order."

"X.A.N.A does not comprehend that. Humans must be destroyed for it to continue functioning."

After that discovery, our lives did not return to normalcy. Gone were the days of simply exploring and sightseeing Lyoko's various sectors. Both of us had a purpose now, and that was the order we ran by. If we sensed or heard pulsations, we would follow them to the ends of each sector to find the source and purify the tower causing it. Our initial suspicions were confirmed. Whenever we checked the human Internet after Aelita purged a tower, something unexplainable by human terms had occurred. All of these 'miracles' had been connected to one thing: the Eye of X.A.N.A. So it became our sole duty to lessen the casualties caused by Creator by purging the towers and ensuring that order on Lyoko and Earth was both kept. Aelita did it out of a sense of compassion and interest in the human race. She called their chaos fascinating, and vowed to defend that right of chaos from X.A.N.A as long as possible. On the other hand, I found humans obnoxious, but not unbearable. From chaos, order could be built. It was possible. As far as we were concerned, the order we possessed was a gift from the humans, without them, Lyoko would not have been possible.

Our lives settled into another pattern, one a lot more stressful than that of our previous peaceful existence, but still equally, if not more, satisfying. "Draco- pulsations have been sensed in the desert sector." Aelita stated. Over the days, months, and maybe even a year or so, my speaking mannerisms had caught on to hers. "Shall we investigate?"

On the other hand, my rigid vocabulary had loosened somewhat. "Alright. Let's go. The tower isn't very far from the place we'll spawn at." With that, I reprogrammed the tower and together, we fell into the tunnels of data. I had found that it was virtually impossible to connect a normal tower to a corrupted, or activated tower without risking it and our encoding as well.

So as usual, we emerged from the tower, to the sight of the orange wastelands that was the desert sector. As usual, Bloks and Krabes were awaiting our imminent arrival. We sprang into action. Despite being painfully devoid of weapons or offensive weapons, Aelita was also dreadfully fast. She sprinted from my side, leaping over the head of the Bloks and landing on one of them. The main disadvantage of the prototype monster X.A.N.A had just programmed was that it was unable to look upwards or downwards. It was a mere block on legs, thus, unable to aim above their own eye levels. Its companions turned toward it and started to open fire, destroying Aelita's Blok. Meanwhile, I dashed towards the Krabes, extending my claws and swiping at their long spindly legs. By my side, a Krabe took aim at Aelita and fired. The laser struck her in the leg, causing her to crash to the ground after the Blok dematerialized. I retaliated by slashing right through it's belly laser and impaled it all the way through.

"Aelita, make for the tower!" I called, growling as one of the Bloks that still survived caught me unaware and shot at me twice. Aelita obeyed and ran, rolling beneath the legs of the Krabes and almost being scalded by their lasers. I made to bolt away when they turned their lasers towards me, but to my horror, I could not move. The prototype Blok seemed to leer at me with one of its four eyes. It had frozen me in place with one of its lasers.

From the corner of my eye, I could see something emerging from behind the tower, something long, with a light blue bulb for its head, encompassed by purple armor, with several long, spindly tentacles. Aelita plunged straight into them, screaming as they surrounded her and hefted her into the air squirming and struggling. I raised my spear to fire an electrical shock at it from a distance, but a pair of tentacles wrestled the spear from my hands gently. As two tentacle ends gently pressed themselves against my forehead, I could see Aelita facing the same fate.

Suddenly, Creator was there, in my mind somehow, watching me impassively. "Simulation successful." It stated, watching through my eyes as Aelita fell limp. I saw the horror in her eyes and I realized that the eye of X.A.N.A. must have resurfaced in my own eyes. My origins were revealed. Silently, the Scyphozoa clutching Aelita dropped her gently to the ground unconscious and gracefully returned to my side without a sound. The Krabes and Blok surprisingly left her alone and continued to focus on me.

"Cre…at…or." I managed, past the haze of paralysis the Scyphozoa had induced me into. I felt it again. The welling of emotions in my very being. Except this time, it was not like the sensation of bubbles. It was a tight clenching feeling, like my entire body was caving in on itself. Anger. I hated this being, this creator, with every last byte of data in my programming. I hated the one who created and took everything away, who birthed me and left me purposeless.

"Second stage of testing will commence during favorable situation." Creator continued, as the other Scyphozoa embraced me as well, tucking its tentacles onto the back of my head. Two equally powerful flows of data and programs began to stream into my database. I could feel, some were designed to enhance my programming. Others were deleting and replacing what Creator deemed unnecessary. And all I could do was dangle there helplessly, completely frozen and unable to scream out my frustrations. My 'emotions' slowly vanished. My previous commands rewritten. My memories…

I watched from mind's eye as I led Franz Hopper from his prison in Sector Five. I watched as we were surrounded and how he escaped through the open door. His daughter Aelita, the one he so desperately wanted to see and save. The one I had failed to protect. I watched, as Princess and I explored the forest. As she deactivated her first tower and her bliss at having been finally named. Our purpose.

Then I felt myself fall into blissful sleep once more.

* * *

A nameless girl woke up in her tower and she reached out to restart the program…and froze. She shook her head and locks of short pink hair flew everywhere as she blearily woke herself up properly. Who had she been trying to wake, anyways? There was no one. No one at all. It was just Lyoko, X.A.N.A., and herself, a princess hidden in her tower, away from the dangers of the cold, unloving world.

And that was all there ever had been to it.

* * *

A/N: I am sooo sorry. Program Draco's name is supposed to be Draco. EXE, without the space between the . and EXE but seems to edit it out. So I just changed it to Program Draco and left it at that. Sorry for any confusion...


	3. The Dragon and the Knights

**The Reverse Code**

_Birthright_

**Data Pad Two**

**The Dragon and the Knights**

"Hello, Jeremy."

"Hey Aelita." Jeremy greeted as they exchanged their customary hellos. The boy adjusted his glasses and shook a stray blonde hair loose. He seated himself casually in front of the supercomputer. "So if you don't mind, today, I was thinking of sending Ulrich and Odd back in to investigate Lyoko's geography. Now that we know there's an enemy to fight, we're going to have to be able to retaliate faster and stronger than any of X.A.N.A's creatures. After all, we're fighting on its territory."

"Well, alright." Aelita confessed. "I haven't done much exploring myself. It's so dangerous around here nowadays." She waved cheerily at the sudden appearance of a blond, pointy haired kid who suddenly emerged from behind Jeremy and grinned at her.

"Hey Princess!" Odd announced, waving as well. "How's everything?"

"Pretty good, Odd. Jeremy says you two want to take a tour of Lyoko today." Aelita stated evenly. "I'll send you my coordinates Jeremy."

"Alright. Ulrich, Odd, scanner room. Where's Yumi, by the way?" Jeremy asked as he rapidly typed the coordinates back into the scanner destination.

The lanky brown haired boy groaned to himself. "She couldn't get out of after-school detention. Sissy wasn't too happy when we made a fool out of her and her little posses last time, so she pulled some strings and got Yumi tossed into detention, anyhow…" He then mumbled something that sounded rather suspiciously like "I wonder if X.A.N.A. could blow her up for me…"

Jeremy choked good-naturedly and then directed them to the elevator. "Just say when!" He called.

"When!" Odd shouted back as the mechanical doors slid into place and sealed with an electrical clasp.

Back on Lyoko, Aelita laid back on the tower floor quietly. It was somewhat unnerving- after all her years of isolation on a virtual world she knew practically nothing about; humans were finally prying her isolation apart. Last week, Lyoko had literally awoken with new energy. The wires jutting out of the land were pulsating with a red glow. Soon, she discovered the reason why. A young human male- perhaps barely into his adolescence, was looking at her through the tower's main screen. He had called her Maya- a temporary name, he stated, after she gave him her approval. Then he'd introduced his friends and there, the adventure began. It was gratifying and terrifying at the same time. With a relieved sigh, she jumped to her feet and cut the connection to the supercomputer, before heading outside.

By then, a samurai and a large purple cat were waiting for her just outside of the tower. Odd waved again with a cocky grin on his face and Ulrich nodded at her. The three of them took off, running through the tall trees and over obstacles in their path. They ran and they ran, noting the terrain, and every now and then, when they stopped to break, Ulrich would quietly point out an advantage of the land they could use to full potential. While Odd was deliberating with Ulrich on a small niche in the ground they had found, Aelita looked around.

The digital sea in the forest sector was a warm, alluring gold. The ripples were gentle and the sea appeared to be the epitome of calm on Lyoko. She leaned forwards, looking over the sides of the terrain, entranced by its glow. Odd and Ulrich didn't appear to notice.

Maybe she would just take a quick dip. From all the information she had managed to milk out of Jeremy about the real world, she had heard about the delights of swimming in a sea. She'd always known that Lyoko had a sea- but it was unlike any other terrain she'd ever been on, so she dared not to step in it. But now that she knew the sea was for swimming in…

"_Negative! Suggestion: foolish!"_

"Wha-?" Aelita jerked, looking around. Odd and Ulrich were still talking, as if nothing had happened. She looked around the clearing, checking for any of X.A.N.A's monsters or any other presence nearby. There was no one. Then she gazed longingly again at the sea, pushing the voice to the back of her mind.

"_The human sea is for swimming in, Princess. Lyoko's sea is not."_

Quickly, the pink haired elf shot a glare at Odd- then dismissed her accusations almost immediately. It was clearly a feminine voice that she was hearing. She looked at the sea again- to see if it would repeat its words again, but this time, nothing happened.

"Alright, Aelita, we're ready to go again." Ulrich stated, turning towards her. "Um… are you certain it's safe to be standing so close to the edge?"

"You'd best not, Aelita." Jeremy's voice warned as it rang overhead. "I've been analyzing the data you've been sending me. The digital sea is a void." He paused here, as if anticipating Odd's 'English please' comment. "Alright Odd, it's like the Trash Bin on your computer desktop."

"Well why didn't you say so, Einstein?" Odd replied, guiding Aelita away from the edge nimbly. "Come on- now we know what not to do when cornered."

In the lab, Jeremy shook his head. "Whatever you do, don't fall into the digital sea. Devirtualization will bring you guys back to Earth. Falling into the digital sea will delete you for good. And trust me on this, there's a huge difference between deletion and divirtualization. Right now, you guys are just a huge series of coding and data running around on an even bigger plane of data."

"Alright Jeremy, we'll be careful." Ulrich cut in, interrupting Odd's next comment. "Alright, do you think it's enough for now? What time is it now, Jeremy?"

They could hear the click as Jeremy checked the Supercomputer's clock and then they heard his shriek, "It's already 7- we're going to be late for curfew!"

Odd and Ulrich simultaneously cursed and looked at each other. "How bout a good old return to the past, Einstein?" Odd suggested hopefully.

"I- I haven't worked out all the kinks in the program. It's pretty old, actually. With what we pulled last week- I'm surprised it didn't glitch up the system or something. As it is, it's pretty much incompatible" Jeremy confessed nervously. "And I'm afraid I might have messed it up or something while analyzing how it works- I can't take that risk with all of you in there. I should have thought about this before; I'm so thoughtless!"

"Wait- then how do we get out of Lyoko?" Odd wailed, looking at Ulrich, who still managed to wear his impassive face. "Jim's going to catch us and kill us all… hey X.A.N.A! Do you hear that? Our PE teacher's going to kill us first before you! Aren't you in the competitive mode? Maybe a couple of Krabes or Hornets would be nice? Come on! We're like, walking targets-"

Ulrich scowled and slapped his head. "Don't advertise us right now, Odd. Aelita's here too, you know?"

"It's no good. X.A.N.A's inactive right now." Aelita said, looking around again.

"Oh, well that's real nice." Odd remarked sarcastically, his tail twitching in irritation. "So what do we do now, chuck rocks at each other and hope we lose enough hitpoints to devirtualize?"

"That's a great idea, why don't you just devirtualize each other? You'd have to take several shots first, Odd- one hit from Ulrich's saber would probably devirtualize you immediately." The pink-haired elf commented, looking between the samurai and the cat.

"Mmhm. That could work. Go ahead you two." Jeremy's voice echoed.

"Heh! Easy for you to say, Jeremy." Ulrich said, watching Odd cautiously as the cat boy raised a paw directly at his chest. "Not there, Odd! Why don't you pick a shoulder or something?"

"Because you're going to be stabbing me and I'll get instantly devirtualized when you cut my chest, head, or any other vital spots!"

Gritting his teeth, Ulrich held up his hand. "Alright- first, let's get Aelita back into a tower. Then, we can work on getting out of here."

* * *

Many of their first plunges into Lyoko had resulted in various repeats of that particular scene. Aelita was most definitely not jealous at all when Yumi and Ulrich had to cut at each other's life points with their respective weapons in order to properly leave Lyoko. This version of double suicide occurred again and again until Jeremy finally finished analyzing the time travel feature of the supercomputer and deemed it safe. From then on, they got into a little less trouble with Jim. And managed to patch up their relationships once again.

Then, when the human boy Jeremy finally announced their permanent plans for Lyoko, I knew Creator was going to move again. So it wasn't that terrible of a surprise when I awoke lying on the plains of the desert of Lyoko. What was surprising- was the giant purple cat swimming in and out of my optics. Creator had literally… thrown me to the sharks.

"Jeremy! Jeremy, did you virtualize another student by accident?" He was hollering up at the sky. If it were not for the fact I was already aware of the methods in which the master control communicated with his players, I would have found the scene particularly amusing.

"I'm checking the character profiles! She doesn't exist in my files!" Jeremy replied with a slightly annoyed tone. "Sheesh Odd. No one asked you to be poking around the factory looking for your dog."

"No one asked you to dognap my dog, either! Or attempt to virtualize him!"

While the strange purple cat was yelling at the voice from above, I sat up woozily, gripping my forehead as I tried to stand. The cat noticed, and it was then I too, noticed, that he was not a giant purple cat, but rather a boy in a giant purple cat suit. "Designation Program Draco." I stated blandly.

"Eh? Uh… is that computer lingo?" The boy asked, rubbing the back of his head curiously. "Uh… Einstein, a bit of help here?"

"I think she's an AI like Aelita." The blond boy replied, checking all the files again. "Odd, ask her what her programming directs her to do."

"Eh- what he said." Odd told me, pointing up at the sky. I took it in impassively. "So, I think he's asking what you do here on Lyoko?"

I opened my mouth to respond, and I found that I could not give the true reason behind my appearance. Another reason rose to my vocal box. Systematically activated when I had to give that particular reason and could not do so without giving everything away. "Program Draco: Purpose: Oversee Lyoko and all activities on Lyoko. Designation?"

"My name is… Odd?" He tried, his tail flicking nervously. "Odd Della Robia."

I was interested. After all- he was a human. A real human boy, here, on Lyoko. "Recorded. Purpose on Lyoko? Status among warriors?"

"I'm here to… well right now, I'm just exploring the place, but normally I'd be fighting off the monsters. You know… the blocks on legs, the flying oversized bees, the disfigured crabs… the monsters, right?" The words came tumbling from his mouth, running over each other as he watched me with a mix of embarrassment and hesitation. "And as for in the group…I- I'm a giant… walking cat?"

I tilted my head curiously. Humans were indeed curious beings. Creator wanted these particular humans destroyed for good, though. "Negative. Odd Della Robia is a human of the male gender. What is your duty in the group designating themselves the Lyoko Warriors?" I tried next.

"Oh! Why didn't you say so? I'm the sniper." He stated, raising his paws proudly. "These things shoot arrows and stuff. I'm pretty nifty with them!"

"Area of expertise: sniping." I put down in my database.

"Odd! Don't give away information so freely!" Jeremy berated him from above. I had forgotten the master controller was present.

I turned my head to the heavens and scanned the sky. So he was the one, the brains of the group. "Designation Draco. Designation of Master Control?"

"I think she means you, Jeremy."

Jeremy scrutinized his computer screen analytically. A strange new AI appearing from nowhere and interrogating them immediately. It seemed just too strange. So he decided to play it safe. "Designation Jeremy. Jeremy Belpois." He stated. "Further information will be withheld due to caution and regard to the mission." From the corner of my eyes, I could see Odd clutching his head in mock-pain, reeling, I supposed, from his friend's use of my 'language'.

From Lyoko, I nodded perceptively. So he was smart. I could be smarter. "Reason: logical."

"Program Draco, your character card is not present in my files, what is the pathway?"

I sent a concerned message to creator through our link and waited until it replied with bursts of data directing me on my next actions. "X13728, file/ Scipio-sec5. Character card: Draco. EXE" I replied monotonously, hearing the tapping of keys as the boy searched the files."

I felt something inside me give away and a tingling sensation ran over my skin as he relocated my card, placing me in his own personal files.

I heard the confusion and surprise in his voice. "Draco, your character file was created years ago! Why have you only now reappeared?"

Routing around for a plausible explanation that he would not be able to undermine swiftly just by scanning my card, I felt Creator gently push his influence into the supercomputer, manipulating the data silently. Then I knew exactly what I needed to say- and exactly how I was going to fulfill the mission by infiltrating the group designating themselves Lyoko Warriors. Warriors or no- they were still children. Children who saw the world in black and white, good and evil.

With Creator supplying the words behind my tongue, it flowed out evenly. "I am Franz Hopper's first creation- and guardian of all he created…"

Although unaware of it, my life settled into purpose yet again. Jeremy accepted my explanation and creator's manipulating had created enough false, and rather obvious files on Lyoko to back them up easily. As a fellow AI to Aelita, we often spent more time together than with the group as a whole.

* * *

"It works…IT WORKS!"

Passively, I watched from my tower as the boy I knew plainly as master control… or Jeremy, unexpectedly shot from his chair and began to prance around the room jubilantly. Aelita appeared equally confused as well, but took it calmly as well.

"Is everything well, Jeremy?" Aelita asked tentatively from my side. Happiness really was no cause for alarm but recently, Jeremy had not been a happy individual. To see him in such high spirits was… invigorating, to say the least.

"The materialization program, Aelita! It works! I can't believe it!" He appeared sufficiently calm enough to tell us this. "

"Congratulations, master control." I intoned briefly, eying the screen knowing he could see me as well.

Only then did Jeremy seem to realize my presence. It wasn't surprising that he only had eyes for Aelita. It had been that way since they had first met, apparently.

Within months into my alliance with the Lyoko Warriors, they had grown to trust me and treat me as they would Aelita- except for the bodyguard factor. Clearly I was able to hold my own constantly in Lyoko, and thus I was officially enlisted as Aelita's first line of defense. At times, we would deactivate the towers ourselves without much difficulty.

I was confused, however. Why was Creator allowing me to help in deactivating the towers so easily without much struggle or complaint? Some late night research resolved my question. The time travel program had just recently been hacked into by Creator and he was using it to fuel his powers. Every time he caused a catastrophe, every time he had activated a tower, Jeremy had to undo the damage or risk discovery and suspicion. So now I knew.

'_Creator, master control has completed the materialization program.'_ I stated internally. I knew Creator would receive my message. _'Commands, creator?'_

Nothing came back in reply so I severed my connections to Creator and watched as the haunting blue light of the tower's main screen flickered and vanished for the night.


End file.
